Thread: Tao Te Ching ch.50 and interpretation

Coming into life, entering death
The followers of life, three in ten
The followers of death, three in ten
Those whose life are moved toward death
Also three in ten
Why? Because they live lives of excess

I've heard of those who are good at cultivating life
Traveling on the road, they do not encounter rhinos or tigers
Entering into an army, they are not harmed by weapons
Rhinos have nowhere to thrust their horns
Tigers have nowhere to clasp their claws
Soldiers have nowhere to lodge their blades
Why? Because they have no place for death


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Interpretation

In the process of living - from birth, when we come into this world, to death, when we depart - we observe that most people can be grouped into several categories.

Three persons out of ten can be described as followers of life. They seek to live a life of longevity and safety, so they have their focus on getting by from day to day. They lead cautious lives with little risk or challenge. Their existence tends to be uneventful, mundane and colorless.

The complete opposite to the above would be what we call the followers of death. These are the people with self-destructive tendencies. They rush headlong into any situation recklessly, throwing caution to the winds. They put their own health and safety at risk unnecessarily. We observe that there are also three persons out of ten who fit this description.

The third category consists of people who start out pursuing life, but end up pursuing death. Like the above two categories, there are roughly three persons in ten who belong to this group.

How can such people start with life but end with death? Usually, they start out wishing to live life to the fullest, so they sample all the pleasures of the material world. But it is easy to overindulge when they do so, and soon their excessive lifestyles begin to take a heavy toll on their health and peace of mind. Thus, overindulgence leads them toward death.

Nine persons out of ten fit in one of the three categories above: fearful living, dangerous living, or excessive living. The rare exception, the one-in-ten minority, is the type of person who can transcend the predictable patterns that most people fall into.

We've heard of people like this, who are good at cultivating life. They enjoy living in moderation; they do not shrink from the unfamiliar; at the same time, they are also not foolhardy. They are the skillful players - not spectators - in the game of life. They are fully engaged and fully committed in their interactions with others and the world.

Because of the way they live, they do not encounter dangerous beasts representing the hazards of daily existence as they travel the road of life. When they wade into the battlefield of social competition, they are not harmed by the many weapons wielded by soldiers, representing personal attacks.

Their impeccable conduct leaves no room for others to hurt them with vicious rumors, innuendoes or insinuations. It is as if the wild rhinocerous of underhanded, back-stabbing tactics cannot find a place to thrust its deadly horn.

They feel no need to defend their point of view, nor to convince or persuade others of the correctness of their perspective. Thus, the tigers of blame, criticism and petty bickering have no target upon which to use their lethal claws.

When destructive force comes their way, they do not attempt to counter it head-on with equal or greater force. Instead, they expend minimal energy and redirect it away from themselves. Thus, the swords of negativity are deflected and cannot touch them.

How can they deal with life with such ease? It isn't so much that they possess toughness, so that slings and arrows bounce off them and outrageous fortune cannot hurt them. Rather, theirs is the ability to transcend fear, risk, and excess in their approach to life. Their mastery of living simply leaves no room for anything that is negative or destructive.

http://www.taoism.net/enter.htm

Thanks. Something to think about.